This invention relates to an anamorphic mirror which provides an effective and attractive reflected image from a CRT display viewed from off its optical axis.
In certain video games, primarily games which are coin operated and used in an arcade setting rather than in the home, the game is enclosed in a cabinet which contains a seating area for the player. A CRT display is often reflected by one or more mirrors to accommodate the geometric and other constraints of the cabinet and provide enhancement to the reflected image.
Certain such video games are contained in a cabinet in which the CRT display is located above the head of the player and points downwardly at an acute angle to horizontal. A mirror is located immediately in front of the face of the player, and is angled upwardly so that the player sees the CRT display. Because the CRT display must be pointed downwardly at an acute angle, and the player looks directly forward, the player views the image from off the optical axis of the CRT display.
In video games in which off-axis projection is used, the user typically views the CRT display through a flat mirror. Because the user is located quite close to the mirror, which is in turn located close to the CRT, the viewer sees an image which is substantially smaller than that presented by the CRT display. Since the CRT display itself is relatively small, shrinking the image still further substantially diminishes the quality of the viewed image. In addition, the flat mirror cannot add to the two-dimensional nature of the CRT display.
In relatively complex devices such as aircraft simulators, a spherical mirror is used to present the image to the viewer. However, to provide an acceptable image which is square and undistorted, the image must be projected on the spherical mirror and reflected back to the viewer along the optical axis of the image. As a result, an extra mirror, typically a half mirror which the viewer can see through, is used so that the projection can be along the optical axis. However, size and expense constraints often make it undesirable to incorporate such projection techniques in a video game.